


my sweet prince

by walkerbite



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Complicated Relationships, Enemies to Lovers, Love/Hate, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 10:21:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20833856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkerbite/pseuds/walkerbite
Summary: the unraveling of carl's relationship with negan. inspired by my sweet prince by placebo.





	my sweet prince

**Author's Note:**

> obviously i consider carl of age but i tagged as underage just in case. this is my first fic so i hope it isnt too bad? again inspired by my sweet prince by placebo so chapters are inspired by lines, i would recommend listening to it! thank u so much for reading :)

**i never thought you'd make me perspire**.

the walk to negan's bedroom was a long one. carl's legs felt heavy with anticipation and he had to keep his knees from shaking as a pool of dread settled in his gut. he followed behind negan, who tread confidently and coolly, making random calls to the men he passed.

"bet you're about pissing your pants, huh?" negan retorted, slowing his pace to meet carl and lean in close. "don't worry. we don't hurt birds around here... i mean, unless we have to." 

"shut up." carl spat, glaring ahead of himself as he walked beside the man. he _was_ about pissing his pants, he had him there, but hell if carl was about to put that fear on display for a raging sadist. the side of carl's lip was slightly upturned in a scowl, his angered expression only further entertaining negan. 

negan chuckled, leaning back on his heels and opening the door for carl to enter. carl wondered how he got himself here, aimlessly wandering around the room that was a bit too lavish and cozy considering their position in mid-apocalypse. he thought of jesus, if he would come after him. the boy almost felt guilty for the stunt he pulled and the indefinite amount of turmoil he'd have caused at alexandria- jesus, enid, his dad- only to fail to kill negan anyway. why hadn't he just shot? "go ahead, take a seat. make yourself at home, kid."

conversation was slow and uneasy. negan had not made any threatening moves yet, only sitting across from carl, but the steadiness of feigned safety somehow made it worse. 

"i want to get to know you better, carl." negan started after a period of uncomfortable silence, leaning forward on the leather loveseat with his elbows rested upon his knees. the way he treated danger with friendliness, casualty... it was anxiety inducing.

"...why?"

"work it out." the man's expression grew dimmer, a more serious tone replacing the friendliness of his previous offers. "you're smart. in fact, i'm gonna tell you just how smart you are, in case you don't already know. you go on a mission. you find me, you kill two of my men, and you're smart enough to know that i'm not gonna let this slide!"

carl's stomach churned. thoughts back to the circle, abraham, glenn, his arm, his dad- it all raced through his head. was this really how he was going to die? ending his fucked up failure of a suicide mission with negan taking him out back and publicly slamming that damned bat through his head? bringing him back to alexandria to put his death on display? getting an iron to his face? would he rip out his other eye? break his arm? _cut off_ his arm like he promised to do before? keep him like daryl? like sherry? carl held his breath, keeping his eyes down and clenching the fabric of the couch he sat on. he felt tears start to swell in his eyes.

"ah, i can't- i can't do it." negan laughed, putting out his hands in a "you-got-me" sort of position. "it's like talking to a birthday present. you've got to take that shit off your face. i wanna see what grandma got me."

carl's shoulders tensed. he raised his head slightly, wondering if negan was truly being serious or trying to find yet another way to humiliate him, trick him into thinking something was true when it wasn't. he settled on negan's intentions probably being some mixture of both. he sat up a little straighter, trying to make himself look bolder than he felt. carl wanted to say something witty, something that he could spit in negan's face. eventually, though, he settled on flat denial. "no."

"two men!" negan shouted, visibly tired of playing this beat-around-the-bush game with the boy in front of him. his face solemn, leaning forward as he glared at carl directly. "two... men. punishment. do you _really _ want to piss me off, boy?"

on one hand, the young grimes did want to piss negan off. he wanted to see negan tumble, to watch his castle fall apart under his feet. he wanted to humiliate him, to force him to see that he was in the wrong. but on the other hand, he didn't. first of all, he knew that negan was in the position to kill him at any moment. he could make carl's life living hell, if he wanted to. however, he also wanted to understand. the difference between negan and his father was unsettling, but similarities between himself and negan always seemed to resurface no matter how far he tried to push it down. he didn't want to think about it. 

carl sighed, breathing shaky as he waited for only a few seconds in the silence between them. he bowed his head, took off his hat, and slowly began to unwrap the bandages that covered his eye. his hands shook, and he couldn't keep them from showing it. negan chuckled while carl stripped his face of the wrappings, providing unnecessary commentary and "atta boy"s at the younger all the meanwhile. for carl, it was humiliating and uncomfortable. for negan, it was a treat.

when the bandages finally fell into carl's lap, and once he was ordered to push the hair out of his face, he felt naked. carl felt as if he was entirely exposed in front of negan, pushing back tears as negan's eyes roamed and devoured the empty socket. 

"christ! that is disgusting! no wonder you cover it up, have you seen it? i mean, have you looked in the mirror? that is gross as hell! i can see your socket!" negan leaned forward, inspecting the shaky teenager. carl was finding it difficult to keep his composure, breaths uneven as he avoided negan's eye contact. the older man laughed, finding interest in carl's humility. "i want to touch it. oh come on, can i touch it?" 

when carl didn't respond, negan took the reaction as a yes to his question. he leaned back, ordering carl to stand up in front of him. when carl did as told, slowly moving from his seat to tensely stand in front of negan, the older man coaxed him down onto his knees by grabbing his hips, pulling the weight of carl's body down until he took the hint. carl didn't know what to do. he felt the shame and anger of the situation simultaneously bubbling inside of his chest, creating a burning sensation in his throat. he wanted to fight back, to throw harsh criticisms in negan's face the way he just had to carl. instead, he stayed silent, biting his tongue as he glared at negan with his one good eye.

"come on now, don't be giving me that stinkeye, kid." negan laughed, brushing the hair that had fallen back into carl's face behind his ear. "you killed two men, after all. don't you think this is fair play? put your head up."

though he told carl to put his head up, negan didn't give him the time to do so. he gripped his chin, raising carl's head to face him directly and keep him in place. his other hand trailed from carl's neck to his cheek until his fingertips were buried into carl's hairline, his thumb in position to prod at carl's socket. the younger knew what was coming, but the anticipation had not made the initial touch any less painful. when negan's thumb rubbed light circles into the base of the hole, carl couldn't help but flinch. the wound would likely always be raw and sensitive to the touch, the doctor had said. his eye shut tight and his mouth fell open, letting out a small groan as his brows furrowed. the pain was not the worst he had felt, but it was still a bit much. the involuntary physical reaction led carl to grip negan's jeans, sitting between his legs.

"that bad, huh?" was all the elder said, relentlessly exploring deeper into the socket and pressing harder.

"gah-!" carl let out, his head falling forward as he breathed a bit heavier, digging his nails into negan's thigh. "fuck- what the fuck is wrong with you?" negan's hand had moved to settle on the back of carl's head since the kid's jerking prevented him from keeping a tight hold on his face, fingers instead locked in his hair. "is this a fucking game to you? don't you realize this is all pointless? you aren't going to win this, negan."

negan chuckled at the boy's small rampage, staying silent until he was finished. when he was, negan tightened his grip on carl's hair, pulling back to meet the boy's eye and expose his throat. carl once again tensed. "now _there's_ the kid that impressed the hell out of me."


End file.
